Republican Conventions in Philadelphia

by Ron Avery, exclusively for this website

When the Republican Party held its presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in July 2000 it was renewing strong, old historic bonds.

Philadelphia Republicans Boise Penrose and Hugh Scott

While most large American cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were ruled by Democrats — New York City's Tammany Hall organization being the most infamous — Philadelphia was a solid bastion of Republican strength from the 1870s to 1952. Only one Democrat and one independent were elected mayor during those 80 years.

GOP politicians from the Quaker City, including U.S. senators Boise Penrose and Hugh Scott, exercised considerable clout on the national scene.

It is not surprising that the GOP chose Philadelphia to hold presidential nominating conventions six times.

Significantly, Philadelphia was the scene of the new party's first convention in 1856. The Republicans returned to pick presidential candidates in 1872, 1900, 1940, 1948, and 2000.

In contrast, the Democratic Party chose Philadelphia only twice for national conventions in 1936 and 1948.

We will explore each of the five previous Philadelphia-based GOP political conventions in detail.

GOP Convention of 1856 in Philadelphia >